Category Archives: Naga Chilli (Bhut Jholakia)

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Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited (APPL), the second largest tea-producing company in the country, will be offering its spice products under the brand name Anshi.

Anshi means “God’s gift” in Sanskrit.

The company commissioned Amalgamated Spice Park, the largest spice-processing plant in the Northeast which is housed at a state government industrial facility at Kaliabor in Nagaon district on July 29.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi inaugurated the project. Besides this, he also inaugurated three more projects of the company.

A senior official of the APPL said in order to be more customer-centric and offer some of its products directly to end-consumers, it has decided to market them under the umbrella brand Anshi.

“It would encapsulate and connote everything that the APPL’s products would offer. Its place of origin and the resultant goodness in health and taste that only natural foods can promise,” he said.

The unit is spread across 6.2 bighas with a built-up area of 30,000 square feet.

“The Spice Park aims to promote the indigenous spices of the Northeast through fair price, value additions and creating market linkages in domestic and international markets for the spice-farming fraternity,” the official said.

It will have three processing lines – one for tuber spices like ginger and turmeric, second for seed spices like black pepper, coriander, mustard and the third one for chilli processing.

Many of the spices have been sourced from spice-specific clusters identified at various locations in the region.

The company at present grows only black pepper and has planted over three lakh trees.

“In the next two years, this figure will be approximately seven lakh trees. The current production is 40 tonnes and on maturity this figure will exceed 600 tonnes,” the official said.

Black pepper is the most-traded spice in the world. It is known as the king of spices for its hot, biting flavour and pungent aroma.

The plan at present is to sell spices to manufacturers across the country. Spices would be available at its kiosks in Assam and the Dooars. Exports will be planned at a later stage.

“The unit has been designed to address sustainability issues through initiatives in water and waste management, use of alternative sources of energy and landscaping for improving air quality,” the official said.

SHILLONG: The Centre is keen on setting up a spices parks in Meghalaya and Assam to promote value addition and help farmers by reducing their dependence on middlemen, an official said today.

A feasibility study for the park in Meghalaya is under the process of preparation by the IIM-Shillong for which the report is awaiting, Deputy Director (Regional office) Spices Board, Government of India, B J Brahma, said at the sideline of a workshop on Organic spices and value addition in Shillong.

The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry will provide funding for the proposed Spices’ Park, he said.

According to the Spice Board official, the park, ideally to be within the reach of the spice-farming community, should have common infrastructure and should not be less than 10 acres.

The Spices park will act as a common centre where farmers bring in their produces in bulks. Grading, quality control, value addition and packaging will be done before it is handed over to exporters, the Spice Board official said.

In 2009-10, Meghalaya produces 50,286 MT of ginger and 10,046 MT of ginger besides 1423 MT and 462 MT of chillies and black pepper. Assam on the other hand, produces Bhut Jhalokia and mustard besides ginger and turmeric and is considered the gate to the North East, Brahma said.

The region has also exported 37,38,597 MT tonne of spices, mainly fresh ginger and fresh turmeric, to neighbouring countries Bangladesh and Myanmar in the recent past, could further its export after the value addition is done and the quality is improved, Brahma said.

Once value addition is done and quality is improved at these common infrastructure for the farmers, the spices could command a higher price value at the International markets, Brahma said.

The Lakadong turmeric produced in Meghalaya’s Jaintia Hills district could command a high market prices after value addition at the park, he said.

The hottest chilli vodka in the world is to go on sale at Selfridges. The Naga Chilli Vodka rates 1000,000 on the Scoville scale – the international method of measuring the heat in a chilli – making it the most potent chilli vodka ever to be sold.

The chilli used in the vodka is the Naga Jolokia, which is known to be one of the hottest chillis it is possible to grow: hotter than most law-enforcement grade pepper sprays.

The drink is made by fermenting litres of vodka with 18kg of the fiery peppers. The resulting concoction is left for several weeks to infuse. Once the vodka has turned a dark caramel colour, the infusion is complete and the vodka can be bottled.

The resulting spirit measures 100,000 on the Scoville scale – twice as hot as Tabasco, and almost on a par with the level of heat from a Habanero or Scotch bonnet chilli.Expert mixologists recommend the new vodka be used in a classic Bloody Mary for a drink with extra kick.

Dawn Davies, Selfridges’ Spirits expert says ‘This product is truly one of a kind and we anticipate the type of customer to buy this will be a chilli connoisseur who understands the rarity and incredible strength of such a product.We have a huge customer following for anything spicy, from our range of Tabasco products, the 1.7 million scoville chilli sauce and now our new Naga Chilli Vodka.’

‘Selfridges sells over 30 different chilli products, the most popular being the gallon of Tabasco.’

‘We hope our customers enjoy this brand new product and use it with caution!’